Follow Me
What does it mean to follow Jesus? That is the question that our scriptures have raised for me this week. Last week, you may remember, we heard the story of Jesus calling two other disciples – Philip and Nathaniel as recounted in the Gospel of John. Jesus invited them to “Come and See.” They did – and their eyes, hearts and minds were opened.
But this week, we are back in the Gospel of Mark – and this Gospel moves fast. Already, Jesus has been proclaimed as Jesus Christ – which means Messiah- and the Son of God. The prophecy of Isaiah is declared fulfilled. John the baptizer witnesses to his coming. Jesus is baptized, goes into the wilderness, is tempted and prevails against the devil. And, John has been arrested, a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own arrest. That’s a lot of territory that’s been covered in the fourteen short verses prior to today’s Gospel. And it doesn’t slow down.
After John is arrested, it is as if Jesus picks up his mantle and declares, like John, that it is time to repent – to turn away from those things that have come between you and God. But while John preached repentance in preparation for the Messiah, Jesus says, believe in the Good News. The time is now. Immediately. It’s one of Mark’s favorite words. He uses it 40 times in the Gospel. Immediately, Jesus calls his disciples, saying, “Follow me” and, on the spot, they leave their nets, their jobs, their family and everything that they owned behind – and followed Jesus.
Jesus’ call to “Follow me” comes with urgency in Mark’s Gospel, but that is not the only way that Jesus calls people to follow. Some of us have mountain top transformation experiences. Others have a slow and steady call to follow Jesus from many mentors including parents, grandparents, Sunday School Teachers, camp counselors and church members who notice and care.
There is no one way to hear Jesus’ call to follow – and there is no one vocation to which we are called. Martin Luther reminded us of the “priesthood of all believers” and that there is no task that glorifies God more than another. Instead, as Frederick Buechner once said, The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. What is Jesus calling you into?
A friend of mine was wrestling with this question. She felt the desire to serve Jesus and she did not want to say no to Jesus’ call – but she also loved being a teacher. She wasn’t sure what to do. She visited with her pastor and he assured her that not all calls from God are into the ministry. Being a teacher can also be a call from God. And, so can being an electrician, a postal carrier, or a caretaker. When my mother was ill, I suddenly realized that the one who had cared for me all my life now needed me to be one of her caregivers.
A recent study showed that people who are retiring are also asking this question in a new way. Where is God calling me now? Where is the place where my deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet? Listen for God’s voice. God keeps calling you.
The tale of Jonah -which some scholars call a parable and others call an allegory -- is the story of someone who refused to listen to God’s call. God calls Jonah to go to Ninevah to warn the people that God was displeased with their wickedness and would destroy them. Ninevah is the capital of the Assyrian empire – the heart of a country that has terrorized Jonah’s people. Jonah doesn’t want to go and preach to them because, he knows that the Lord God is a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He doesn’t want to give these people the opportunity to repent because he doesn’t want God to forgive them. He wants them to rot in hell. So, instead of following God’s call, Jonah runs away, in the opposite direction. Or, at least he tries to run away.
God, of course, has other ideas, you probably remember that Jonah ends up being swallowed by a whale where he has a “divine time-out.”1 After three days, Jonah comes to his senses and promises to go to Ninevah and do the task he is called to do. The whale promptly regurgitates him on the shore close to Ninevah. ( I’ll bet he smelled awful, his clothes and his hair full of whale belly vomit.)
Eventually, Jonah goes to Ninevah and walks through the streets crying: “Forty days more, and Ninevah shall be overthrown.” The king hears this 8 word sermon and not only believes it, but takes action, repenting and ordering all of his subjects to repent, fast and to put sackcloth on themselves and even on their animals. God notices and relents from punishing them.
This sounds like a nice end to the story. But it’s not. God’s forgiveness of his enemies makes Jonah mad. He goes and pouts outside the city. God notices and makes a bush to grow to give shade to Jonah. Jonah really likes the bush. But when the bush withered the next day, Jonah becomes even more angry. Let me quote just a bit from the last words of the book of Jonah:
“God said to Jonah, Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And Jonah said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow…. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right and from their left, and also many animals?”
One lesson from this story could be that when God calls you to do something, you should do it because God doesn’t give up. Jonah is a perfect “bad example” of what happens when you don’t listen to God’s call. But there is another lesson – one that is even more important for Jonah – and for us. The other lesson in Jonah is not about the call to do something but rather the call to be more like God, to follow God’s way.
God was calling Jonah not only to preach the words that caused the whole city to repent, but was also calling Jonah to change his heart, his prejudices, and the chip on his shoulder against the Ninevites.
The story ends there. We don’t know if Jonah was able to enlarge his heart enough to be glad for God’s mercy – or if he just stubbornly stayed by his withered plant and died. God gives us choices. We don’t have to follow in God’s way. But God’s way is the way to life, freedom and wholeness.
When God calls Jonah --and us-- to follow, God calls us to follow in the way we live our lives. God’s way, the way of Jesus, is compassionate, “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and ready to relent from punishing.” God’s way makes room for forgiveness and even reconciliation.
As Thomas Merton once wrote to Dorothy Day, “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business, and in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can.” 2
As we enter a year in which there are wars and rumors of wars on many shores, an election year and a very divided electorate, you and I are called to follow Jesus in our compassion for the “other.” That “other” can have many faces. Maybe it is a homeless person – like Charles – who came in the church the other day to ask for a cup of coffee. Maybe it is someone who came as an immigrant seeking asylum and since asylum seekers are not allowed to work, they are reduced to begging on the side of the road. Or, maybe it is someone who voted differently from you. Regardless of who seems “other” to you, following Jesus means following Jesus’ way, the way of compassion for the other.
Jesus says to you, “Follow me.” The next step is up to you. Amen.
1 https://asermonforeverysunday.com/wp content/uploads/2021/01/Amy-Starr-Redwine-3rd-Sunday-after-the-Epiphany-January-24-2021-Jonah.pdf
2 Ibid
February 17, 2024 + Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane